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Inventor of Month - Jayco

Jul 31, 2007Autodesk Announces Jayco as Inventor of the Month for July 2007

Company Contributes to Aviation Safety With New, Improved Mobile Electronic Flightdeck Solution Designed With Autodesk Inventor

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced that Jayco, a leading designer and manufacturer of Human-Machine Interfaces, has been named as the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for July 2007. The Inventor of the Month program (http://www.autodesk.com/inventorofthemonth) recognizes the most innovative design and engineering advancements made by the extensive community using Autodesk Inventor software, the foundation for Digital Prototyping.

Jayco received the Inventor of the Month designation for its work packaging a new type of mobile electronic flightdeck for one of its aviation customers. These devices are portable computing solutions that enable flight crews to access critical digitized flight navigational data and flight deck/cabin management documentation.

"Our goal was to take a traditional mobile flight deck solution and make it smaller and lighter -- so that it is easier to carry around and better able to fit into aircrafts that have more compact cockpits," said Hemant Mistry, President of Jayco. "At the same time, we needed to make sure that the user interface remained logical and intuitive, so that information could readily be entered and retrieved. The importance of a well-designed user interface cannot be overstated in the context of an aircraft."

To tackle this complex assignment, Jayco did all of its design work in 3D, using Autodesk Inventor software. By creating 3D models, Jayco was able to virtually explore its solution before it was built, using digital prototypes to simulate the real-world performance of the design without having to rely on costly physical prototypes.

"Digital Prototyping allowed us to visualize and analyze our designs ahead of time, to check for interferences," said Mistry. "As a result, the number of iterations required to come up with a final design was greatly reduced. We probably decreased the overall development cycle by 50 percent by using Autodesk Inventor software, which allowed us to deliver a mobile electronic flightdeck solution to our customers in less time."

For more than 10 years, Jayco has relied consistently upon their partnership with leading Autodesk reseller KETIV Technologies, the only manufacturing gold partner serving the Southwest United States. KETIV played an integral part in providing Inventor training to the engineering staff, as well as improved the company's design-to-manufacturing process by implementing Autodesk data management solutions.

"Jayco's mobile electronic flightdeck solution shows that Digital Prototyping doesn't just save companies time and money," said Robert "Buzz" Kross, vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. "It also serves as an engine for innovation, better allowing companies to come up with fresh new ideas and designs. Jayco's solution is sure to benefit a wide range of aviation customers and we are pleased to name them as our Inventor of the Month for July."

Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 600,000 users of Autodesk Inventor software, the foundation for Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information on Autodesk Inventor of the Month, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.

About Jayco

Jayco is a specialist in Human-Machine Interfaces. Their product line includes membrane switches, keyboards and keypads, touch screens and complete control panel assemblies. Jayco is unique in both its focus on the man-machine interface market and the breadth of its technology and product offerings. Jayco achieves superior results for each and every client, by listening and learning about their needs and by working closely with their designers and engineers to create input devices tailor-made for their intended application. With the ability to identify and eliminate potential problems, Jayco offers insights and solutions only possible through years of experience and specialization. For additional information about Jayco, visit http://www.jaycopanels.com/.

KETIV Technologies is a leading Autodesk Gold Partner with 25 years' experience delivering CAD software and services in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Focused on the manufacturing, civil engineering and process plant industries, KETIV's team of industry experts increase the profitability of engineering companies by helping them simplify the process of conceptualization, design and production.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Alias, Inventor, and Showcase are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. Moldflow is a registered trademark of Moldflow Corp., a subsidiary of Autodesk, Inc., in the United States. Macintosh and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.